Rune
Rún Yngvar Riordán Komuso (11/22/2042), more commonly simply "Rune", is one of the first and most enigmatic members of Stam LLC. A powerful magician of indeterminate origin, he is the reliable magical backbone of the team in spite of a veritable host of personal demons. General information It is easy to disregard Rune with a simple glance as any one of the hundreds of thousands down and out who inhabit the Barrens, only a step above the streets. Of average height and undernourished frame, he is generally clad in slightly shabby, second-hand clothes, with long, unkempt hair, and needing a shave. That illusion of being a simple Barrens rat is quickly dispelled the moment he's examined in any detail; the tails and serifs of elaborate tatoo work peek out from under his sleeves and collar, his carriage becomes clearly a predatory slink rather than the shuffle of a down and out praying not to be noticed, and, most damning, his eyes convey a sharpness and arrogance of intellect he is unable to hide. Contrasts seem to be one of the few consistent things about Rune, day to day. He tends to stay in the background, but is quick to let his opinion be known when asked or when he feels the need to share it. His knowledge of magic and how the astral and terrestrial interact is immense, far beyond what one would expect of a 'street magician', and he seems pleased when he is asked for his expertise on these matters, yet there have been times when he's demonstrated an ignorance of basc sixth world magical conventions. He tends to come across as a bit arrogant about his knowledge and abilities, and generally judges perceived flaws in the magical and martial techniques of others extremely harshly, yet there is a definite streak of self loathing in Rune that becomes clearly evident after any extended amount of time with him. Magic Though an undeniably capable magician, Rune finds it extremely difficult to explain the nature of his capabilities in a concrete way. This has led to problems relating to other Awakeneds, who tend to at least be capable describing their views on magic and the astral planes in a general manner. Chiefly, Rune's trouble seems to be in differentiating between those capabilities he possesses which would be commonly considered magical (Casting spells, summoning spirits, etc), and more mundane talents such as musical and artistic capability. To hear him explain it all of these are of a single piece, things he's been doing and getting better at for as long as he can recall. There's no real way of pinning down the nature of Rune's magic; in the space of a single ritual he might read a long winded, hermetic penned treatise, sacrifice a chicken to make a shamanic circle with its entrials, and finish with a detailed, scholarly examination of an ant colony. Drug use Rune is somewhat notorious, both amongst the group and in the streets, for his indulgence of vice. He carries a veritable cornucopia of narcotics, both legal and illicit, in a distinctive patent leather satchel, and is nearly always drinking or smoking marijuana (authentic and organic, never nuevo-cannabis) during down time. Though constant use since his teenage years has resulted in an incredibly high tolerance, his casual indulgence in even extremely powerful narcotics--chiefly heroin, opium, and BTLs--has been cause for no small amount of concern amongst the members of Stam LLC, though they have never confronted him. Music and art Rune is an extremely talented guitarist, though he cannot read music and claims to be entirely self-taught. Though his overall knowledge of the history and nature of music is easily exceeded by Sofia's, his love for classic rock (covering the1960s to 1980's) and it's children (Punk, industrial, metal, etc) is everpresent and his knowledge of both obscure and popular artists in the past hundred years or so is immense. He speaks frequently in snatches of song lyrics, often unnoticed by the rest of the group, and is constantly making obscure references to artists and songs. Rune loves nothing more than sharing his passion with any of the group who will take the time to do so with him, and he has made great friends with Teucer in particular over their shared love of even the heaviest of metal, much to Sofia's chagrin. He has also demonstrated extensive capability as a visual artist. During idle times he is often drawing strange, fantastic scenes, oftentimes with a rather childish overall nature. Even during operations he often draws strange glyphs into available materials or sometimes even just the air (Thanks to magic), as a centering technique. He is currently working on an actual painting, with canvas and everything, for Vanessa, but what exactly he is depicting has yet to be revealed. Known past Rune and his twin sister were born in London to Awakened parents. He recalls no details of his own Awakening, claiming that he's been magically capable for as long as he can remember, and in fact twas well into adolesence before he even realized that he posessed abilities that most people did not. This naivete was reinforced by the family's nomadic lifestyle, rarely settling long enough for the children to form any lasting relationships. Though he's been tight lipped with the details, it has become clear that the travelling was intended as preperation for some sort of battle or war; this is most clearly evidenced in repeated refrains of "The war rages on", words which have been echoed verbatim towards Rune by various metaplanar entities, Ruby, Albert Schnauss, and the lyrics of performers at the Flying Man music festival. During the mana storm in May, 2071, it was revealed that Rune was wanted by Interpol and the nation of Tir na nOg in connection with a staggering volume of terrorist activity. Though the reveal was part of a full court press of negative press directed at Stam LLC by Aztechnology in their efforts to capture or kill them, the sheer volume of evidence presented by various political and corporate entities, and the intensely brutal nature of many of the accusations--including mass murder, international terrorism, and the ritual murder of an entire convent of nuns-- has forced some reexamination of feelings towards the mysterious mage. Recent events As the unquestionable head magician in Stam LLC since the exit of Sofia (before decisions would generally reach a consensus before executed), Rune's capabilities have lately been tested in dramatic fashion. Perhaps becuase he has so many more responsibilities to attend to, he's operated far more in the background lately, content to simply follow the orders of Thomas, Teucer, and others without much challenge. The other magician, Ruby, is still rather new to Stam and Rune's seniority in length of service (and trust) trumps any consensus if one was to be sought. His relationship with Tia seems to have generally been a positive for them both, and the consesus is that she's taken the edge off the worst excesses of his drug use in a way Sofia never could. Concurrent with this change in attitude has been a dramatic physical metamorphosis as well. During the extraction from Athabaska, when the team found out they had been greenlit by Aztechnology, Rune cut off his distinctive (and easily identifiable) long hair. He's maintained the chrome dome look. Ink and scars Rune bears his history on his body in a very literal way, in the form of elaborate tattoos and hidious scars. Due to the sheer amount of each, they are covered in detail here. Ink The majority of Rune's torso and arms, front and back, are covered, with stray designs on both hands and legs. On his front torso there does seem to be a theme, but it is hard to pin down. At the top, one on each bicep and one on each pectoral, there are four female figures, roughly approximating the four "classical" elements. From left to right they are: A com ic book style samurai, wreathed in flame, a bare-breasted mermaid amongst the froth of waves, a fairy with prismatic wings and a sword that seems to be closer to a miniture tornado, and a dryad half-merged with an ancient looking tree. Each of these four figures seem to be the centerpiece of the designs on their "section" of body, which are similarly elemental themed, and all are paired with and somehwhat incorporated into a secondary animal theme These include (but are far from limited to): a red and gold scaled snake wrapping it's way around the left arm, it's head peeking out just below the wrist, an elaborately mosaiced koi fish with distinctly female eyes, a murder of ravens forming the image of a much larger raven, and a lurking Tibetan snow tiger, it's eyes an unnatural shade of yellow. Tertiary images for each section spring out from the primary female and secondary animal patterns and tend to be more abstract. Examples include: Religious icongraphy and rune work from Amerind, Norse, Celtic, Egyptian, Buddhist, Shinto, eastern European, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and a few more difficult to identify cultures, a screaming face design from Pink Floyd's "The Wall", a demonic figure with a mutilated wing, an undead pirate, a no smoking logo, Gandalf the Gray, and an iconic yellow and black smiley face. In contrast to the low tech but artfully designed tattoos covering his front in an at least semi-random pattern, his back is covered by one large, unified piece that bears a subtle but striking bit of technological wizardry. The scene is of a nude Freya, the Nordic goddess of life and growing things, tending to the gnarled roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life. At her feet play several large cats, the lynxes who pull her chariot according to norse myth. She is watering the tree from a ewer which seems to be feeding a lake on the shores of which Yggdrasil is standing. The sun shines brightly, and the sky overlooking the scene is a beautiful cerulean. This entire montage is bound in by large swans at the top-left and bottom-right corners, their wings spread to former an impromptu frame. Everything about the image conveys life, vitality, and the renewal of spring. This image gradually changes over the course of the day, however, and by sundown it has shifted completely. Freya has become Odin, the warrior-mage of the Norse pantheaon, and rather than gently tending Yggdrasil he is hanging from it's branches by several ropes, appearing weak and very nearly dead. The lynxes have become a pack of rangy wolves, looking up at him with a sort of patient awe on their canine features. The scene is now clearly winter, with a frozen lake, snow covered hills, no leaves on the Tree of Life, and a dark, opppressive sky clear of everything except a huge, milky full moon where the sun once held domain. The swans at either corner have become ravens. Where once life and vitality were conveyed, now death and weakness seem to prevail. This image too slowly shifts over the night, and by sunrise has been replaced once more by Freya and the spring. Scars Rune's back tattoo is marred by the clear marks of a whip or scourge; similar marks cover his legs and buttocks, consistent with repeated floggings of extreme brutality. He is missing a little toe on his left foot, and the feet themselves appear to have been broken on at least one occasion. A livid, barely-faded purple mark rings his neck, splotched with white marks which may be the telltale traces of fingertips. The nails on the last three fingers of his left hand appear to have grown in unevenly, and the hand itself has several thin, livid white scars that look to have been made by an extremely small blade. Dozens of smaller scars and badly healed bruises addorn the remainder of his body, most appearing to be the result of blunt force trauma. Extremely cognizent of his scars, Rune makes a fair amount of effort to cover them, tending to favor long, tight sleeves, and collars. The only ones he seems at all comfortable about are those on his left hand, which he seems to occasionally find funny for some reason, chuckling as he wiggles the nailless fingers in front of his face. Category:Characters Category:Chapter 1 Category:Chapter 2